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The Sacred Laws of the Âryas: Âpastamba - Prasna II, Patala 4
Khanda 8
1. On the second and following days of the guest's stay, the host shall not rise or descend (from his couch) in order to salute his (guest), if he has been saluted before (on the first day).
2. He shall eat after his guests.1
3. He shall not consume all the flavoured liquids in the house, so as to leave nothing for guests.2
4. He shall not cause sweetmeats to be prepared for his own sake.3
5. (A guest) who can repeat the (whole) Veda (together with the supplementary books) is worthy to receive a cow and the Madhuparka,4
6. (And also) the teacher, an officiating priest, a Snâtaka, and a just king (though not learned in the Veda).
7. A cow and the Madhuparka (shall be offered) to the teacher, to an officiating priest, to a father-in-law, and to a king, if they come after a year has elapsed (since their former visit).
8. The Madhuparka shall consist of curds mixed with honey, or of milk mixed with honey.5
9. On failure (of these substances) water (mixed with honey may be used).
10. The Veda has six Aṅgas (auxiliary works).6
11. (The six auxiliary works are) the Kalpa (teaching the ritual) of the Veda, the treatises on grammar, astronomy, etymology, phonetics, and metrics.
12. (If any one should contend that) the term Veda (on account of its etymology, implying that which teaches duty or whereby one obtains spiritual merit) applies to the complete collection of (works which contain) rules for rites to be performed on the authority of precepts, (that, consequently, the Kalpa-sûtras form part of the Veda, and that thereby) the number (fixed above) for those (Aṅgas) is proved to be wrong,7
13. (Then we answer), All those who are learned in Mîmâmsâ are agreed that (the terms Veda, Brâhmana, and the like, which are applied to) the principal (works), do not include the Aṅgas (the Kalpa-sûtras and the rest). he remembers at any time during dinner,
14. If he remembers at any time that he has refused a guest, he shall at once leave off eating and fast on that day,
Khanda 9
1. And on the following day (he shall search for him), feast him to his heart's content, and accompany him (on his departure).8
2. (If the guest) possesses a carriage, (he shall accompany him) as far as that.
3. Any other (guest he must accompany), until permission to return is given.
4. If (the guest) forgets (to give leave to depart), the (host) may return on reaching the boundary of his village.
5. To all (those who come for food) at (the end of) the Vaisvadeva he shall give a portion, even to dogs and Kandâlas.
6. Some declare that he shall not give anything to unworthy people (such as Kandâlas).
7. A person who has been initiated shall not eat the leavings of women or of an uninitiated person.9
8. All gifts are to be preceded by (pouring out) water.10
9. (But gifts offered to priests) at sacrifices (are to be given) in the manner prescribed by the Veda.
10. The division of the food must be made in such a manner that those who receive daily portions (slaves) do not suffer by it.
11. At his pleasure, he may stint himself, his wife, or his children, but by no means a slave who does his work.
12. And he must not stint himself so much that he becomes unable to perform his duties.
13. Now they quote also (the following two verses):
'Eight mouthfuls are the meal of an ascetic, sixteen that of a hermit living in the woods, thirty-two that of a householder, and an unlimited quantity that of a student. An Agnihotrin, a draught-ox, and a student, those three can do their work only if they eat; without eating (much), they cannot do it.'11
Footnotes
1. Manu III, 117; Yâgñ. I, 105.
2. Flavoured liquids, i.e. milk, whey, &c.
3. Manu III, 106.
4. Manu III, 119 and 120; Yâgñ. I, 110;: Weber, Ind. Stud. X, 125. A guest is also called goghna, 'cow-killer,' because formerly a cow used to be killed on the arrival of a distinguished guest. The rite is described by Âsvalâyana Grihya-sûtra I, 24, 31-33.
5. Âsvalâyana Grihya-sûtra I, 24, 5 and 6.
6. This Sûtra explains the term vedâdhyâya, '(a guest) who can repeat the (whole) Veda,' which occurs above, Sûtra 5--Haradatta. See Max Müller's History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 111.
7. This Sûtra and the following one are directed against those who consider the Kalpa-sûtras to be a part of the Veda, the revealed texts. See also Max Müller's History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 95 seq.
8. Yâgñ. I, 113.
9. After a long discussion on the object of this Sûtra, Haradatta comes to the conclusion that it is given 'against the improper custom to dine out of the same vessel with one's wife and uninitiated children, which prevails in some countries.'
10. 'Consequently a gift of food also.' The custom is to pour water, usually with the spoon called Darvî (Pallî), into the extended palm of the recipient's right hand.
11. Manu VI, 28; Yâgñ. III, 55.
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